Forest Therapy and One Square Meter

George’s “Dew Drop on Blade of Grass”

Last Saturday I assisted on a Forest Therapy class at Morton Arboretum. Now I had not experienced a Forest Therapy class before and I was very curious to learn more about this ancient practice that is becoming popular today. On a very cold (14 degrees), brilliantly sunny day, a group of 10 focused on various “invitations” from our instructor to let nature into our consciousness.

Our last “invitation” was to find a sit-spot and focus in on that area. I chose a spot a few feet off the path so that I could also easily see the other participants, as it was my job to make sure everyone gathered back with the instructor.

I sat on a fallen tree and gazed at what was before me. I immediately thought of David George Haskell’s book, “The Forest Unseen” . Haskell spends a year visiting the same one square meter plot in the forest on an almost daily basis. How does it change? Who inhabits it?

Here’s what I saw:

I became caught up in this little world. Then looking up, I noticed all the other class participants were gone. I was last to arrive back to join the group!

Maybe I’ll pick a “one square meter” spot to visit this year. Where will it be?

George used his camera lens to focus in on the details in nature. To see “what’s goin’ on”.

During the Forest Therapy class I thought of George and laughed a little. He would have found it silly for people to have to be led by an instructor to delve into nature, but he also would take heart that humans may finally be finding their way to become one with the earth.